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1984 by George Orwell: Orwell Expert Book Review

By:
Brainy Book Reviews

Narrated by:
Mark Young

Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
68

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
58

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
55

Book Reviews gives readers an efficient way to quickly go through and digest famous and well-loved titles. Offering easy-to-read and comprehensive synopses of every chapter of bestselling books, each Brainy Book Review highlights the key ideas behind critically acclaimed titles, helping readers swiftly get the most out of a book.

1 out of 5 stars

thought it was supposed to read the book with me

By
Kaycee
on
12-15-16

1984

New Classic Edition

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
Simon Prebble

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
17,483

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,918

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,954

George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote. Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Reader of a Visionary Classic

By
T Cyr
on
02-13-17

1984 (Dramatized)

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
David Niven,
The NBC University Theater

Length: 54 mins

Original Recording

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
348

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
297

Story

4 out of 5 stars
296

War Is Peace! Freedom Is Slavery! Ignorance Is Strength! Big Brother is watching and listening. Yep, we’re talking propaganda, the fabrication of “truth”, the outlawing of dissent, the distortion of reality, endless war… and of course, thought crime. No we’re not talking about the goings on on 2011, were talking about the 1949 NBC University Theater’s adaptation of George Orwell’s
1984.

3 out of 5 stars

Worth the buy, but get the unabridged book.

By
Kieran
on
05-28-11

Brave New World

A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

By:
Aldous Huxley

Narrated by:
Anton Lesser,
Jonathan Coy,
Justin Salinger,
and others

Length: 1 hr and 53 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
72

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
73

It's 2116, and Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and morality turned upside down. There is no poverty, crime or sickness - but no creativity, art or culture either. Human beings are merely docile citizens: divided into castes, brainwashed and controlled by the state and dependent on the drug soma for superficial gratification.

3 out of 5 stars

good dramatization, mediocre substance

By
Josh Atkinson
on
05-02-17

Animal Farm [Dramatised]

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
Tamsin Greig

Length: 1 hr and 26 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
737

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
671

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
673

Animal Farm - the history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges....

Not easy to understand.

1984 by George Orwell: Orwell Expert Book Review

By:
Brainy Book Reviews

Narrated by:
Mark Young

Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
68

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
58

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
55

Book Reviews gives readers an efficient way to quickly go through and digest famous and well-loved titles. Offering easy-to-read and comprehensive synopses of every chapter of bestselling books, each Brainy Book Review highlights the key ideas behind critically acclaimed titles, helping readers swiftly get the most out of a book.

1 out of 5 stars

thought it was supposed to read the book with me

By
Kaycee
on
12-15-16

1984

New Classic Edition

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
Simon Prebble

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
17,483

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,918

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,954

George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote. Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Reader of a Visionary Classic

By
T Cyr
on
02-13-17

1984 (Dramatized)

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
David Niven,
The NBC University Theater

Length: 54 mins

Original Recording

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
348

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
297

Story

4 out of 5 stars
296

War Is Peace! Freedom Is Slavery! Ignorance Is Strength! Big Brother is watching and listening. Yep, we’re talking propaganda, the fabrication of “truth”, the outlawing of dissent, the distortion of reality, endless war… and of course, thought crime. No we’re not talking about the goings on on 2011, were talking about the 1949 NBC University Theater’s adaptation of George Orwell’s
1984.

3 out of 5 stars

Worth the buy, but get the unabridged book.

By
Kieran
on
05-28-11

Brave New World

A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

By:
Aldous Huxley

Narrated by:
Anton Lesser,
Jonathan Coy,
Justin Salinger,
and others

Length: 1 hr and 53 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
72

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
73

It's 2116, and Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and morality turned upside down. There is no poverty, crime or sickness - but no creativity, art or culture either. Human beings are merely docile citizens: divided into castes, brainwashed and controlled by the state and dependent on the drug soma for superficial gratification.

3 out of 5 stars

good dramatization, mediocre substance

By
Josh Atkinson
on
05-02-17

Animal Farm [Dramatised]

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
Tamsin Greig

Length: 1 hr and 26 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
737

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
671

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
673

Animal Farm - the history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges....

Not easy to understand.

Animal Farm

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
Ralph Cosham

Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
7,527

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
6,270

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
6,273

George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture, quoted so often that we tend to forget who wrote the original words! This must-read is also a must-listen!

Brave New World

When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

5 out of 5 stars

“Oh, Ford, Ford Ford, I Wish I Had My Soma!”

By
Jefferson
on
10-03-11

1984

Retro Audio (Dramatised)

By:
George Orwell

Narrated by:
David Niven

Length: 54 mins

Abridged

Overall

3 out of 5 stars
32

Performance

3 out of 5 stars
18

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
19

Here is the classic dystopian novel by George Orwell. First published in 1949, it is set in the eponymous year and focuses on a repressive, totalitarian regime. The story follows the life of one seemingly insignificant man, Winston Smith, a civil servant assigned the task of perpetuating the regime's propaganda by falsifying records and political literature. Smith grows disillusioned with his meager existence and so begins a rebellion against the system that leads to his arrest and torture.

1 out of 5 stars

retro orwell 1984

By
Lindsey
on
04-14-09

Fahrenheit 451

By:
Ray Bradbury

Narrated by:
Tim Robbins

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
9,421

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
8,570

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
8,564

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."

5 out of 5 stars

I'm Burnin', I'm Burnin' for You

By
W Perry Hall
on
10-22-14

Fire and Fury

Inside the Trump White House

By:
Michael Wolff

Narrated by:
Michael Wolff,
Holter Graham

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
16,448

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,701

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,613

With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country—and the world—has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.

3 out of 5 stars

Not as credible as one would like.

By
Jerry R. Nokes Jr.
on
01-29-18

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles: A Radio Dramatization

By:
Ray Bradbury

Narrated by:
The Colonial Radio Players

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
272

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
241

Story

4 out of 5 stars
235

The people of Earth are preparing for war - a war that could potentially destroy the planet. Explorers are sent to Mars to find a new place for humans to colonize. Bradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor, where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. It is here the invaders have come to despoil and commercialize, to grow and to learn - first a trickle, then a torrent, rushing from a world with no future toward a promise of tomorrow. The Earthman conquers Mars... and then is conquered by it.

5 out of 5 stars

THE REASON FOR LIFE IS LIFE

By
Jim "The Impatient"
on
11-14-15

Crime and Punishment

CliffsNotes

By:
James L. Roberts Ph.D.

Narrated by:
Tim Wheeler

Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
7

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
5

Story

4 out of 5 stars
5

The CliffsNotes study guide on Fyodor Dostoevsky's
Crime and Punishment supplements the original literary work, giving you background information about the author, an introduction to the work, a graphical character map, critical commentaries, expanded glossaries, and a comprehensive index, all for you to use as an educational tool that will allow you to better understand the work. This study guide was written with the assumption that you have read
Crime and Punishment.

The Divine Comedy

Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso

By:
Dante Alighieri,
Stephen Wyatt

Narrated by:
Blake Ritson,
John Hurt,
David Warner,
and others

Length: 2 hrs and 50 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
516

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
469

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
463

Blake Ritson, David Warner, Hattie Morahan and John Hurt star in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Dante's epic poem. Inferno: Thirty-five year old Dante finds himself in the middle of a dark wood, in extreme personal and spiritual crisis. Hope of rescue appears in the form of the venerable poet Virgil, now a shade himself, who offers to lead Dante on an odyssey through the afterlife, beginning in the terrifying depths of Hell.

5 out of 5 stars

Revisiting the land of the dead

By
Die Falknerin
on
10-21-16

The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition

By:
Margaret Atwood,
Valerie Martin - essay

Narrated by:
Claire Danes,
Margaret Atwood,
full cast

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
16,553

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
15,278

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
15,223

After a violent coup in the United States overthrows the Constitution and ushers in a new government regime, the Republic of Gilead imposes subservient roles on all women. Offred, now a Handmaid tasked with the singular role of procreation in the childless household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost everything, even her own name.

4 out of 5 stars

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT

By
ambER
on
04-20-17

Publisher's Summary

Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster and the Thought Police uncover each act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party.

Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101....

Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime. Christopher Eccleston, Tim Pigott-Smith and Pippa Nixon star in this new drama, part of BBC Radio 4's The Real George Orwell season - a Radio 4 journey that explores the disjuncture between the man who was Eric Blair and the writer who was George Orwell.

Ok story and performance.

For a dramatized piece, the iDisk issues arose - sound was hard to hear in some areas.It was ok however I think the story is a little too unrealistic - other big brother stories are a bit better, but as a classic, worth the listen.

What is Going on?

Has Nineteen Eighty-Four turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I like the story just not this dramatized version of it.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The voices were hard to follow and I never knew where they were.

What character would you cut from Nineteen Eighty-Four?

None.

2 of 5 people found this review helpful

Sort by:

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Paul

08-19-13

Not the book.

I am sure had I looked harder before downloading I would have realised this is not the book but a dramatisation. The length of just under 2 hours should have given it away. Nonetheless it proved a good listen whilst mowing the lawn!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

keith

04-08-13

1984 Revisited

I first read 1984 as a young man at school and found a chilling and frightening portent of one man's fight against authority and the Government. Having lived through 1984 and seen how close George Orwell was his with his vision of a post-war Britain and world conflicts, it was sobering to see how life and personal attitudes have developed in modern society reflecting the book. A scary re-read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Saul

03-25-16

Very 'thought' provoking

I loved this dramatisation...kept me on the edge of my seat...fantastic performances. Have been meaning to read the book for years but as a result of this audio drama, I'll now be ordering the book. Highly recommend 😃

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Andyjn

02-12-16

Enjoyable but dark

This BBC drama is well acted. The cast fit their roles. The story is very thought provoking.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Lizzie

10-29-15

How this reflects the current times we live in

A wonderfully dramatised BBC production. I will listen to this again and again. Definitely a classic that sums up the times we live in.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reginald pelle

10-04-15

Exciting!

Full of drama, suspense and dark happenings. A good adaption of a popular novel. Worth a listen!

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

toveyc1

01-23-15

More BBC goodness

This was a fantastic production to listen to. Great casting, pace and story. This has really brought the subject matter off the page and burned into my mind. Well worth purchasing.

Overall

1 out of 5 stars

mrs

04-29-13

Poor audio quality

Unfortunately I spent the whole two hours constanty adjusting the volume and bass on this recording. The sound effects drown the script, which is mostly too loud and distorted or too quiet and muffled. Shame , because I think that the dramatisation itself was probably good. I am a sound engineer, so I am aware how to adjust the levels. I still couldn't understand it. Waste of a credit.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sort by:

Overall

1 out of 5 stars

Performance

1 out of 5 stars

Story

1 out of 5 stars

Alison

08-07-17

Beware - this is not the audio book!

Would you try another book written by George Orwell or narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith?

This recording was a huge disappointment! I thought I was downloading the audio book, not some hammy radio dramatization. Am very disappointed and feel misled by the words "ORIGINAL" and "narrated by" in audio book title.

Has Nineteen Eighty-Four put you off other books in this genre?

My first Audible title was great but this one has made me wary of the products I'm buying on Audible.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There is no reader/narrator!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance and disappointment - not with the novel but with its misrepresentation as an audio book. Blew my freebie for the month.

Any additional comments?

Please make clear whether we are buying the reading of a book or a dramatisation. It is a completely different experience.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Overall

1 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Ms Ellana Costa

01-16-17

Dramatic but not complete

This book is beautifully read, however it is not a reading of the book. This best described as a radio play with some of Orwell's beautifully written detail missing. Good but not the classic text.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Chris

08-01-17

Should be mandatory in the school curriculum

Loved it. It was much shorter than I expected it to be however. People really need to consider the similarities between this fictional novel and the slippery slope that society is presently on. Watch "Snowden" then imagine how bad Big Brother would be with 21st century technology....

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Anonymous User

02-26-18

i am dead. <br />

look. i loved i also want to die right now and curl into a ball for the next three years.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

M

01-21-18

Quality dramatization

Struggled to get into at first, but riveted by the final chapter. Will be worth a second session.

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Anonymous User

10-27-17

Amazing but not a radio play not a reading!

Don't expect an audio transcript- you will be disappointed. I was, but I persisted and by goly it was worth it!

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Peter

01-14-17

A Horror...

I wish I had never listened to this yet at 66 I am glad that I have done so..

The scenario is quite horrible to read about, let alone imagine - and I am certain it could have been real..